The public face of Hornby. He seemed to give a lot of out of hours time so undoubtedly committed to the company. In that sense a shame. I hope that he enjoys success in pastures new, and that Hornby can lift themselves out of the doldrums.

I have been critical of Hornby recently but have not seen or heard anything to suggest SK is at fault. From what I see, he is a good marketing professional and I hope he has another post lined up. I did see a piece in Peco's 2014 annual written by him, so whether that was part of a [personal] promotional campaign aimed at securing another post or he's going freelance as a writer, time will tell.

Nothing new in a workplace scenario. Some of us will have been in a similar situation to Simon! In some circumstances there reaches a stage when you cannot 'work' with the regime that has evolved through changes of personnel and sometimes the best answer is to jump ship! It's sad news and I suspect that Hornby will come to regret it!

I could have continued working even to this moment in time, but certain people in certain places in the organisation I was working for were uncooperative and at times downright hostile, despite my having full backing for my activities from the very top; I decided that enough was enough and believe me, once I had gone I've hardly missed it, despite the protestations of some of my staff to the contrary!

I wish Simon all the best - any dealings I have had with him showed him to be a perfect gentleman - its Hornby's loss! They won't find that out until after he's gone though!

I do hope that Hornby's current "top men" do not now think that in these difficult times the answer to the company's problems lies in keeping-on only those "essential" members of management who know all about management "theory" but diddly about railways, whether actual or properly modelled. That would in my view lead them directly away from their "adult discerning enthusiast" customers and straight into the jaws of disaster - if indeed they are not already there and waiting to be swallowed by a firm whose name begins with B.

Bachmann A2 to A2/3: from my thread in Model Railways page 56 to 83, also

Hornby A3 to A1/1 Great Northern: from page 84, in resin from page 108.

Apologies for so many missing images - see page 1 for reasons & possible solution.

As many of you are aware there have over the past 12 months been some very major changes at Hornby. One of the most significant of these changes has been the complete reorganisation of the Marketing Department which has affected all the Hornby brand teams – Hornby, Scalextric, Airfix and Corgi. These changes have resulted in the complete reorganisation of the various functions of marketing with the intention of the Hornby Marketing operation becoming more efficient and proactive. These changes have coincided with thoughts of my own relating to my future career and it is with a great deal of sadness that after some considerable thought I shall be leaving Hornby at the end of this month.

I have been with Hornby for 35 years and in that time I can honestly say that there has never been a single morning when I have not wanted to go to work. The genuine pleasure of meeting enthusiasts at the various Hornby Roadshows, the joy of seeing a long planned for model arriving in the shops and the friendship and consideration shown to me by my work colleagues and those in the “trade” have made my time at Hornby incredibly enjoyable.

So what of the future? I am pleased to advise that I have decided to establish my own Consultancy and Advisory business utilising the breadth of knowledge I have gained over the years and to this end I am equally pleased to announce that I will continue to assist and support Hornby as they require for at least 12 months after I leave. However before that day I have much to do but in the meantime I would like to thank you all for your good wishes, they are greatly appreciated.

Hornby is a great brand with an enormous future and I would like to thank the Directors and Staff for their help and support which has allowed me to take this next step in my career.